Tag Archives: Andy Tobin

When Gov. Jan Brewer announced her proposal to expand Medicaid to the full amount advocated by the federal health care law, Republican leadership in the House and Senate received a fight they didn’t ask for, and one they didn’t know was coming.

With a fiscal crisis that forced billions of dollars in state government cuts mainly over, the Arizona Legislature enters its 2013 session Monday with a budget surplus but little appetite among majority Republicans to loosen the purse strings.
The state has socked away about $450 million in a rainy day fund and has more than $1 billion in total surplus going into the budget year that begins July 1.

While the mood at the state Capitol this past year might be best described as riotous, 2012 — the Chinese Year of the Dragon — was marked with fewer gaffes, catfights and over-the-top name calling among Arizona’s political elite.

In the wake of Arizona’s 2012 general election, which was marred by large numbers of uncounted ballots holding up the decision in one congressional district race for 11 days, Secretary of State Ken Bennett said the election system isn’t broken. But he still wants to fix it.

The House of Representatives released its committee assignments yesterday, leaving Democrats, who control 40 percent of the seats in the chamber, with 35.8 percent of the committee assignments. But Minority Leader Chad Campbell said the margins are still better than in previous years.

Arizona House Speaker Andy Tobin, a Republican from Paulden, withstood an attempt to topple him by Sen. Steve Smith, a Republican from Maricopa who was drafted into running for the position by his county party.